STS Professor Carina Fearnley awarded Freedom of the City of London

On 19^th July, Professor Carina Fearnley of the UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies and founder and Director of the UCL Warning Research Centre, was awarded the Freedom of the City of London during a group ceremony hosted by Lord Mayor Professor Michael Mainelli. This was the second ceremony this year, bringing together the 40 recipients to be honoured at the Lord Mayor’s official residence, The Mansion House, for outstanding achievements in their respective fields. The awards were given as part of the Lord Mayor’s ‘Connect to Prosper’ theme, which focuses on the City's expertise in areas including finance, law, art, and engineering, and brings together experts from diverse backgrounds to work on critical global challenges, such as climate change and AI.

Lord Mayor Professor Michael Mainelli said:

"These people are remarkable individuals who exemplify the City of London’s spirit of innovation and dedication, and have enriched the Square Mile’s diverse tapestry with their impressive achievements and contributions to public life.

“Today's ceremony embodies the essence of connectivity that underscores my mayoral theme, ‘Connect to Prosper’, celebrating our many Knowledge Miles and showcasing the Square Mile's ability to bring people together, across different areas of expertise, to find solutions to our planet's biggest challenges.”

City of London Corporation Alderman Alastair King said:

"Their collective achievements highlight the power of collaboration and innovation in driving progress”.

The UCL Warning Research Centre is the only such dedicated facility in the world, and Carina's research focuses on Science Communication and Warning Research developing a body of research in four distinct fields; (i) developing Warnings as an interdisciplinary field globally and building a community around it; (ii) the field of Volcano Alert Level Systems (VALS) creating a new academic debate around the use and implementation of these systems globally; (iii) Art/Science projects involving significant public engagement around environmental hazards, and (iv) developing new innovative research methods and approaches around wicked, real-world, complex problems where it has been necessary to push the boundaries and pioneer inter / trans disciplinary methodologies such as using mind maps to analyse large sets of multi-sited qualitative data.

Carina has published over 40 peer-reviewed academic publications, including 3 authored books,  and is Co-I for the EU Horizons Project ‘The HuT’, and she sits on numerous UK and international advisory groups. including REAP, Defra, CUAMM Doctors with Africa, and ALLFED. Additionally Carina has collaborated with UNDRR, GFDRR World Bank, and IFRC, Cityforum, and the National Preparedness Commission via the work of the UCL WRC. Carina frequently appears on national and international media following significant hazard events. Carina edited the first publication dedicated to Volcanic Crisis Communication (Observing the Volcano World: Volcanic Crisis Communication) with over 1 million downloads to date, and more recently the 7th edition of the much-loved text book ‘Environmental Hazards’. 

Passionate about trans-disciplinary, and rare and unusual charities and organisations, Carina is a member of the Risk and Early Action Partnership (REAP Secretariat) Technical Advisory Board, UK Board Member for CUAMM Doctors with Africa, advisory board member for the charity ALLFED, and Trustee of the charity ‘Fahr Beyond’ on Fahr’s Disease (https://www.fahrbeyond.org).

The Freedom of London is one of the oldest surviving traditional ceremonies still in existence today. It was first presented in 1237 and the medieval term 'freeman’ (‘man' as in old English represented werman and wifman) meant someone who was not the property of a feudal lord, but enjoyed privileges such as the right to earn money and own land. Those who were protected by the charter of their town or city were often free – hence the term 'freedom' of the City. From the Middle Ages and the Victorian era, the Freedom provided the right to trade, and enabled the members of a Guild or Livery to carry out their trade or craft in the Square Mile. In 1835, the Freedom was widened to incorporate not just members of Livery Companies but also people living or working in the City or those with a strong London connection. Today many of the privileges of Freeman are no longer relevant, but they do have the right to drive sheep over London Bridge, toll free, hence the photo of Barbara the sheep.

Carina said:

“I am truly honoured to receive the Freedom of the City of London from Lord Mayor Michael Mainelli. The City of London has played a focal role in my life for many years, and is the world’s oldest city to develop business, trading, law, and livery (guilds), whilst also housing Gresham College that led to the Royal Society that has gone on to shape science globally. It is through bringing together the minds of those that seek to question the status quo, to stretch knowledge to other skills and work across various barriers, that it is possible to pioneer approaches to answer the complex, large scale, and critical problems of our day to secure a better future for future generations. This Freedom Ceremony brings together so many brilliant people focused on achieving these aims, and it was inspirational to be surrounded by my fellow ‘Freemen’”.

Carina also follows the steps of her late father Dr Geoffrey Fearnley who was awarded a Freedom of London in 2003 for his work in aviation and medicine.

Further information:

Professor Carina Fearnley’s UCL Profile
City of London News Article - Freedom of the City of London